A Modification to Cesarean-Section Surgical Draping for Obese Patients

The CDC reported 31.7% of all US births in 2019 were via Cesarean-section (C-section). Additionally, 40% of women in the U.S. are considered obese. This causes an issue; the incision panel on regular surgical drapes is too small for obese patients, and must often be cut by the surgeon during the operation. Consequently, the sterile field is broken and fluid meant to be collected by the surrounding collection bag may spill onto the surgical table and operating room floor due to damage to the drape. Our solution is to design a surgical drape that allows better accessibility by way of adjustability to the patient’s abdominal area and for the collection of lost fluid. We modified a medline drape by removing the existing parts and adding a clear vaginal viewing panel, adjustable incision panel, fluid collection bag, and adhesion strips. The adjustable opening is composed of a larger incision opening within the drape itself accompanied by perforated adhesive strips on top. The opening was enlarged to 60 x 30cm, which included seven strips each 30 x 8.6cm. The fluid collection bag went around this opening at a size of 43 x 70cm. The clear vaginal-opening-flap is attached to the drape by velcro at 38.1×50.8cm. The prototype will be tested for its adhesive strength in wet and dry conditions and assessed for degradation of the peel strength as well as tested for its waterproof seal properties. These modifications allow a more convenient performance of C-section surgeries while increasing the accuracy of lost fluids and thus improving surgical outcome.